The Story of the Vessaliuses: Golden Drops
The Story of the Vessaliuses: Golden Drops, is the first story of Pandora Hearts ~Caucus Race~ Volume 1. It is a fairytale-style story focusing on the Vessalius Dukedom. Synopsis A long time ago, Oz had seen 'golden snow'. Oscar Vessalius had brought Oz, Ada and Gilbert out into the countryside and here they witnessed a breathtaking sight, the scenery before them became bathed in golden light. 11:00am Oz was asleep in his room when Alice crept in. She noticed that he was still asleep and smiled at first but that smile soon turned into a smirk. She jumped over to his bed, bent over him and sang his name before slamming down in a swift downward attack. Oz awoke as he felt the pressure shift from Alice's movements and rolled out of the way just in time, though he fell out of bed and hit the back of his head on floor as a result. Oz groaned in pain and Alice accepted this as a triumph, even though she had missed. He got up and said good morning to her, but she interrupted his sentence and told him that it was already afternoon and that he should've been saying "Good Mornafternoon" instead. Oz corrected himself and Alice praised him for avoiding her attack so swiftly. Oz then asked Alice why she was trying to 'kill' him all of a sudden and Alice explained that he had deserved it for being lazy. Furthermore she stated, in her overbearing way, that he should have thanked her for coming to wake him up. Oz accepted this and told her to just shake him gently to wake him up next time. Alice argued that no one was more gentler than her, and Oz noted how energetic she was. Alice told Oz that he was very observant for noticing her good mood, and said that her current state can be seen as a 'power up'. Oz was confused by what she meant, so Alice explained that she had felt overwhelmingly hot when she woke up that morning. She thought that she'd acquired some kind of mysterious power. She also said she had felt really light, so much so that she thought that she could fly. She soon felt blank however and her head started hurting after that. Alice then had a fit of coughing and sneezing but thinking it was an effect of the 'power up' she laughed proudly. Oz, upon seeing this, told Alice not to move, before gently putting his forehead against her's. Alice became alarmed, backed off and asked him what he was doing, but Oz simply told her not to move. After feeling her temperature, he told her that she had a fever and a cold. Alice however did not understand what this meant and looked worriedly at Oz. 12:00pm Gilbert thought of how weird it was for a chain catch a cold. The weather was calm and quiet as Gilbert sat in a chair beside Oz's bed. Gil seemed worried as his gaze shifted towards the bed, at a sickly looking Alice. Alice, who had been forced to stay in bed because of her fever, was pouting albeit weakly. Gil questioned how this could've happened and unable to restrain himself any longer, he blurted out "Stupid rabbit, how can you get a cold?!" Alice asked Gil what he said as she sat up and threw the wet towel off her forehead. Gilbert hadn't been sad or worried at all, he was simply bewildered by the fact that Alice caught a cold. Alice who had been made to wear Oz's pajamas grew more and more angry as she thought about what Gilbert had said. She jumped out of bed and shouted at Gil about how he had dared to make fun of her, stuttering as she spoke. She clenched her teeth in anger and let out a low growl. Gil then told Alice to forget about it; telling her that she was a patient and that she should lay down and sleep. Alice yelled at Gilbert not to look down on her, but then collapsed before she could say anymore. Gilbert once again told a frustrated Alice to rest and sighed whilst he covered her with a blanket. He then picked up the wet towel which she had thrown away. Discovering that it was already warm, he soaked it in a washbasin that had been filled with cold water, and then squeezed it dry. Gil then remembered an incident which had occurred not long ago. He was just about to enter Oz's room when met Oz who was just about to leave. Oz told him about Alice's sickness and Gil said to leave taking care of her to him. Oz agreed and instructed him not to let Alice run about. He said he was going to get Alice something to eat and medicine then promptly left. Gil wondered whether the human medicine would be effective for chains and then thought about how enthusiastic Oz looked whilst placing the cold towel on Alice's forehead. Her face had turned red due to the fever but showed a comfortable expression. Alice coughed twice and Gilbert thought to himself how adorable she looked. Alice then bit down on his little finger hard enough to cause a sound. It had happened so quickly that Gil had forgot to shout in pain. Gilbert screamed at her to let go while flailing his arm frantically but Alice remained adamant. Gil was just about to punch her when the door of the room opened and revealed a surprised Oz. Oz asked the duo what they were doing and Alice instantly let go of Gil's finger. Oz was wearing an apron with an image of a yellow chick on it and carried with him a silver tray which held a bowl oatmeal porridge mixed with banana that he had made himself. Gil stared in shock at Oz's apron, which initially confused Oz who quickly understood and asked Gil what he thought of it whilst praising himself. Gilbert told him it was nice and Oz scolded him. Gil quickly corrected himself but inwardly thought of how cute Oz looked. However when he saw Oz's apron he turned pale and asked whether Oz cooked that porridge. He then remembered a time when he was forced to eat Oz's cooking; it did not end well. Oz however was confident and assured Gilbert that he had consulted a chef this time. Alice commented on how nice the porridge smelled and inquired whether there was any meat in it, to which Oz replied that there was not. After she had asked several times and received the same answer, Alice fell backwards in disappointment. Oz tried to explain but it was not heard by her. Gil, seeing her reaction, worried that she might lose control, but Alice seemed abnormally depressed so he let down his guard. Oz then sat on the chair next to the bed, used a silver spoon to scoop some porridge and blew on it. He then slowly fed Alice the porridge, his other hand holding a napkin to prevent it from spilling. Oz thought Alice was extremely adorable and enjoyed the moment greatly. Watching this however dealt a large blow to Gilbert's manly pride and unable to withstand it any longer, he shouted "Stop!". Gilbert insisted that Oz didn't have to do this and even offered to do it in his stead but when he refused to do the "Ah~um" thing, Oz forcefully rejected this offer. Gilbert eventually gave up and Oz continued to gleefully feed Alice. He then turned and asked Gilbert why he came to his room just before. 1:00pm In an office in Pandora Headquarters, Gilbert, Break and Sharon were having a meeting. Gilbert was leaning against a wall, listening to Sharon as she spoke. He had previously gone to Oz's room on behalf of Sharon, to invite him to attend the meeting. As Oz and Gilbert rarely attended activities organised by Pandora, Sharon had hoped that they would at least attend this meeting, though Oz declined as he didn't have enough time today. Gilbert, who wasn't really interested in it as well, thought it would have been rude if none of them attended so he went in Oz's place instead. His thoughts drifted to Oz's relationship with Alice and his own thoughts about her. He wondered whether he was actually getting jealous of her. He then thought about the chick on Oz's apron and how good Oz looked in normal clothes. Sharon noticed that Gilbert wasn't paying any attention and tried calling him but to no avail. Break proceded to shout in Gil's ear, bringing him back to reality. Gilbert stared at Break, who simply pointed towards a smiling Sharon. Her subsequent laugh and sweet smile horrified Gil, chilling him to the bone. She asked him what had distracted him so, to which Gil attempted to deny, stammering as he spoke. Sharon continued smiling whilst pressing him further until Gil eventually gave in and told them everything. When he finished, both Sharon and Break stood there, confused. They then began teasing him, and being "Gilbert", this prompted him to argue which quickly led to more teasing. When the teasing finally ended, Break wondered about the inherent weirdness of a chain catching a cold. He asked Gilbert how Oz was doing, to which Gilbert replied as "very energetic". As Gil explained what he meant, he looked down at his hand and then began randomly opening and closing it repeatedly. Break silently observed this but didn't do anything. Gilbert let out a low sigh and an old memory flashed through his mind. He the mumbled "golden snow" before leaving the office. Ignoring Sharon's calls, Gilbert walked briskly to Oz's room, cursing under his breath. When he reached the door, he called out for Oz once before entering room. 1.30pm Alice laid on the bed, groaning in pain and a worried Oz stood beside her, calling her name. Gilbert, who had just entered, asked him what had happened, though Oz himself didn't know. Alice was having a seizure and kicked her blankets in great pain whilst tightly squeezing Oz's hands. Both Gilbert and Oz had no idea what was wrong with her or what to do. Alice then released a loud piercing scream before going limp. She then literally erupted a sneeze and "little Alices" began appearing, hundreds of them. The army of "little Alices" swarmed over Oz's room,all chanting about meat. Oz stood there dazed, and Gilbert asked him what was going on, though Oz didnt know either. In frustration, Gilbert clicked his tongue softly, instantly becoming the focus of all the little Alices. For a while, the horde simply stared at Gilbert, but after a moment they began chattering to one another, wondering what they should do with him. Gil shouted angrily at them, backing away as he did. Grinning maliciously, the little Alices advanced on him and proceeded to attack him from all directions. When they were finished with him, the huge army left for the corridor, leaving behind a helpless Oz, an unconscious Gilbert and a feeble Alice. When he finally recovered from the shock, he ran to Gil and checked his condition. After making sure that Gil wasn't in any danger, Oz turned towards Alice and shouted her name. She tried to sit upright but could not and fell backwards. Oz told her not to move and attempted to comfort her. Alice mumbled that the little Alices were her "power" and tried to sit up again but could not muster the energy. She pleaded with Oz to recover her power, to which he agreed without hesitation. She then told him that he had to destroy the little Alices before falling unconscious. Seeing her in her current state saddened Oz deeply and he knew he had to save her. He told Alice to wait for him and walked towards door with determination. Just before leaving he told Gilbert that he was sorry and that he'd take care of him once he had finished with his current task. As Oz ran through the corridor, he saw members of Pandora lying on the ground; they had probably been attacked by the little Alices. Safe to say Oz was horrified, but luckily they didn't weren't seriously injured. Oz silently apologised to them as he walked on. He theorised that since the little Alices shared the same traits as the original Alice, the place they would most likely gone to was the central kitchen and he increased his pace. 2.00pm When Oz arrived at the central kitchen, it had already been conquered by the little Alices. They had ordered the chefs there to prepare meat dishes and anyone who resisted was bitten mercilessly. Oz picked up the lid of a pot and a soup ladle and made his way over to the large army. 4.00pm Oz, with the help of the chefs had largely wiped out all the little Alices, save for one. He found the lone little Alice hiding between the leaves of a maple tree at the outer perimeter of Pandora Headquarters. This one was much different from the other little Alices and had a timid personality. She was crying, shaking uncontrollably, and pleading with him not to hurt her. Oz couldn't bring himself to hurt this one and promptly threw away the soup ladle. He then climbed the tree and looked around before finding the little Alice. She was curled up, trying very hard to hide in the shadows, obviously very frightened. Oz though to himself how cute this was and tried his best comfort her. After a while she warmed up to him, though still uneasy, and Oz told her to come to him so they could go down together as it was dangerous up there. He promised her that he would not force her and told her to take her time. The little Alice eventually reached out and held on to Oz's index finger, causing both of them to smile. It was then that Oz suddenly felt his strength leave his body, before blacking out and falling from the tree. He summoned his remaining strength and pulled the little Alice close to his chest, he could not bear to let her get hurt. Before he fell completely unconscious he saw golden snow and heard a familiar voice calling his name. (Memory) A twelve year old Oz stared on at a field of wheat; taking in a deep breath and enjoying the smell of sunshine in the air as he did so. He, his little sister, Ada, his uncle, Oscar, and Gilbert had gone on a one day vacation to visit the local farmers during the harvest season. Upon arriving there, Oscar had to discuss some matters with the farmers so he told Oz and the others to play on their own. The weather was great and the afternoon sun shone on the huge wheat fields as the trio ran towards them. They stood in a line and examined the massive fields before them. Oz, mischievious as he was, then decided to play a prank on Gil and together with Ada, they ran through the fields laughing, away from a furious Gilbert who proceeded to chase after them. Oz and Ada eventually stopped to catch the breaths and Gilbert caught up to them. It was then that a gust of wind blew across the fields and sent wheat grains flying upwards into the air. As they descended, shining brightly in the sunlight, they looked like golden snow. The trio stood silently in awe as they watched the scenery before them. 5:00pm Oz awoke and felt his body swaying. He was still a bit groggy and as he slowly gathered his mind, he wondered where, when and what sort of situation he was in. Seeing Gilbert's messy black hair in front of him, Oz realised that he was being carried by Gilbert. Gil asked him whether he was alright, though he didn't sound particularly happy. Oz still didn't understand how he got there and he asked Gilbert what he was doing, to which he replied that they were going back to the building. However that wasn't what Oz had meant and he rephrased his question to the reason Gilbert was carrying him. Gilbert told him that he had fallen from the maple tree and asked him whther he had forgotten. Oz then recalled the previous events. Gil had arrived in the nick of time, and saved him just as he was about to hit the ground. He told Oz not to be so reckless next time and after a while Oz apologized but a moment later he exclaimed in surprise and frantically questioned Gil what had happened to the little Alice. Gil simply told him that, "She disappeared". Oz, agitated, grabbed his hair and asked him how that was possible. Gil told him that he had used the wrong term as she had ran away and Oz calmed down. Finally, they reached the main building, but Oz started squirming again and requested Gil to put him down but Gil refused. Ignoring Oz's protests, Gil asked Oz why he had hidden the fact that he had caught a cold, silencing Oz. After a short while Oz asked him whether he knew, to which Gilbert replied, "...of coarse". Gilbert then told Oz that he had no idea what to do with him and after a short pause, Oz confessed that Alice's cold was due to him. The night before Oz and received a novel that he had badly wanted to read. In his single-minded desire to read, he forgot to close the window and it was only when he had felt his body turn as cold as ice that he quickly crawled under his blanket, but it was too late and when the morning came, he began to show the early symptoms of a cold. Later, when he found out that Alice had caught a cold, he immediately realised that this was in some way related to their contract as chains normally cannot catch colds. Gilbert finally understood why Oz had wanted to take care of Alice so much and called the act stupid, annoying Oz in the process. However when Gilbert then said "Golden snow..." Oz froze. He continued about how during that trip, Oz had also hidden the fact that he had caught a cold and then later collapsed in the wheat fields. Oz thought back to the past. He had known his father had always hated him but he got used to it over time. He was however increasingly distraught on how Ada was being restricted because of him and Oscar, sympathetic to their plight, managed to somehow coerce Xai into allowing him to bring Oz, Ada and Gilbert along with him on a one-day inspection of the farmers. Oz was not feeling well on this particular day but for Ada's sake he hide his sickness and went anyway. He acted normal for the rest of the day, but during the evening he collapsed in the wheat fields. Gilbert was only a child then and did not have the strength to carry him, so all he could do was shout and call for help. In stark contrast, Gilbert was now all grown up, had managed to detect Oz's sickness and even saved him in the nick of time. Oz rested his head on Gil's shoulder, physically exhausted, and wondered to himself just when had Gilbert grown into an adult. 5.30pm Gilbert carried Oz back to his room where Alice laid, sleeping. Alice seemed better, but Oz was sure that she had not fully recovered and said aloud that he must find the last little Alice. Just as Gilbert was about to deny him, the little Alice jumped out from the bed. Both Gilbert and Oz had not expected this and they had no clue what to do or say. The little Alice looked at Oz, then nodded and thanked him for protecting her. She told him that she had decided to return to "me" and that once she returned, Alice would be healthy again. She smiled sadly before saying "I'm back" and in that instant her body turned into flecks of light which began merging which Alice's body. When the last particle had enter Alice's body, she woke up. Alice sat up and simply stared at Oz, still not fully awake yet. Alice said that she had caused Oz a lot of trouble, but before Oz could object, she told him that she had seen golden snow in her dreams. Oz was stunned and when Alice asked him whether those were his memories, he didn't know how to answer. Alice theorized that the reason she had seen this was likely due to their contract and she seemed rather happy. Oz simply smiled and asked her whether she had fully recovered, to which she replied yes and told him the correct term was "power-up". Alice then noticed that Oz was piggy-backing Gilbert and she jumped out of bed, clearly excited. She asked him what he was doing and exclaimed how fun it seemed. She ran to them and told Oz that it was her turn, to which intentionally denied, to entice her further. Alice began skipping left and right, shouting a string of "you're so mean!" until Gilbert couldn't take it anymore and began protesting. Eventually Oz switched places with Alice, and lay on his bed to rest. After carrying Alice for some time, Gilbert returned and took care of Oz late into the night. Side Story of Golden Drops Oz lay in bed and thought about how cold he was. He thought of Gil and how much of an idiot he was as there was no reason for him to be there. Oz didn't want him to catch his cold so he forced him to go, even though he didn't want to. Oz then lamented on how because of him, the outing that his family had been excited for was called off, making Gil and Ada cry and both Uncle Oscar and Xai angry. Oz continued to call himself stupid and asked himself how he'd ended up like this. Oz began to apologize, but he soon woke up and realized that it was all just a nightmare. Break and Sharon then entered the room and Break told Oz that he had overworked himself, and how that wasn't cool of him. Sharon scolded Break for talking to Oz like that, but Oz only just registered who they were. Break told Oz that his condition seemed to be worse than they thought but Oz just laughed and said that shortly after 'that' he'd come down with a fever and that it was really annoying; that as sick as he was he couldn't even sleep and that there was no helping it. Oz then stated that even if things had been different, and he didn't get sick, he still wouldn't know, before losing track of what he was saying as he erupts into a fit of coughing. Sharon and Break noticed that Oz was becoming more timid. Oz then moaned that he was being a bother to Alice, Gil and all of the people in Pandora, as for the cause of his sickness, he simply stated that he was 'reaping what he'd sown'. Sharon and Break then decided on what to do next. Break was surprised to find out out that he had to take part in it as well, but he went along with it anyway. Sharon and Break then both placed their foreheads on Oz's to test his temperature. Oz, confused and alarmed, asked them what they were doing, to which Sharon replies that it was a magic spell to make Oz feel better. Break added that it was magic passed down directly from Sharon's mother, Shelly. Gil walked in on them carrying a bowl of porridge whilst Alice sat on his shoulders. He questioned Break and Sharon as to what they were doing to Oz. Break, in reply, asked Gil what was up with his appearance, who then barked at Break to shut up before Sharon told them both to calm down.Oz then began fantasizing about piggyback ridding and Alice asked Oz how he was feeling. Gil began taking care of Oz and Oz told Alice that he was fine. He thought about how nice Gil's big, cold hands were. Alice then told Oz to "say ah" before she shoved a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. Gil asked Alice what she thought she was doing, before asking Oz whether he was okay. Alice explained that she had just wanted to return the favor, and Gil snapped at her, telling her to return it in a different way. Break exclaimed about how this made him want to do the "say ah" thing with Oz, though Gil slammed the idea immediatly. Sharon asked if she could do the "ah thing" for Oz if Gil wouldn't let Break do it. Gil simmered down and said that he should be the one feeding Oz like normal. Alice then justified that since she was the one to make Oz "say ah" and her method was the best way to return the favor, though Gil told her to shut up once again. Oz then began laughing hysterically and Gil asked him if something was wrong. Oz said no, and thought about how warm he felt. Characters Gallery Golden Drops I.jpg 8.jpg 18.jpg 17.jpg Cauac6.jpg Cau5.jpg CaucusRacepag.jpg CRacee.jpg Crace12.jpg Caucusr11.jpg Caucus1pg2.jpg 9.jpg Navigation Category:Caucus Race Content Category:Pandora Hearts Extra Category:Light Novel